How Important Are Decline Bench Presses?

Nah, you don't really need decline. I like some decline benches, well, only one actually. But for the most part, it's nothing special, it may hit your triceps a tad more than regular bench, but the working of the muscles is pretty much the same as flat bench. Stick with flat and incline.
 
There are a form of horizontal upperbody push, but they emphasize a different CNS pattern.

They are good to swap in as a open chain exercise to keep adaptation at bay.
 
Thorough_Bred said:
Because my weight bench is a flat/incline bench only? any ideas on how I could do declines?
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put some plates or a peice of timber under the front of the bench.
dips are better.
 
you can also do pushups to failure with your hands on the bench, feet on floor. also, when first starting bench declines (if you were to put something under the front of the bench as suggested above), start out with relatively light weights. It's easy to get into trouble with declines without a spotter if you're not used to them.
 
I wouldn't even worry about declines. Inclines are way more important as far as chest developement goes. Incline dumbbell press is where it's at.
 
I personally very rarely do declines, and if I do, I use a machine for doing decline-oriented sitting chess presses, not the bench. I'll do the hand-elevated pushups, and other miscellaneous stuff, just to keep myself interested and mix things up. Certain fitness articles state that doing declines results in the down-tilting of the nipples (I feel funny even typing that, but I think you understand what is meant here!).
 
Decline is not needed for chest development.
 
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